Estrogen Get-a-way....

My bags are almost packed...and my passport is in hand. I am off for a couple of weeks with my girls in tow (daughter and daughter-in-law) for an "Estrogen Getaway"! I'm just not sure with the onset of menopause if I have much estrogen left...but I'm going to try like heck to regain some of that while I'm away...I think R & R is suppose to help with that!! I am so pumped...we've been planning this ever since we found out our guys...hubbin, son and son-in-law were going on a "Testosterone Getaway" in October. We just can't let them get one up on us!! So the girls and I are heading to balmy, beautiful Costa Rica to soak up some fun, sun, culture and to take a tour on the zip lines in the Rain Forest! We're very excited. I hope I don't have so much fun I forget to take pictures...but rest assured...my girls are the best at recording life and fun through their camera lenses...so I should have at least a few good pictures. We hate that the boys can't come with us...but they wanted to do this wild wilderness hunt up in the Montana and Idaho "Bitteroot Mountains"...I think that's what it is called...anyhoo...they get to do the rough and crazy stuff...while we chose this year to do the fun and sun....relax and be pampered thang. Next year...will be a different story all together. We may actually be together all at one time...how remarkable will that be...to get all 6 of us on the same schedule, with time off...to hang out...I will love every minute of it! Till then though...it'll be fun with the girls...they always manage to make me laugh, try new and interesting adventures, and learn to love them more with each moment!

I will miss you all...I will think of you while I'm sitting on the beach or swinging from a tree...or as I am floating down the rapids. I will most likely try to figure out what new adventure will make the best post...you know how that is!! Till then...please keep us in your prayers...I'll keep you in mine...and I'll report back with a tan...in a while.

In the meantime...I have housework to do...and lists to make...between hubbin, the dogs and the house-sitter...I will have so many lists...I'll need the vacation!!

Prayers...please....

*****UPDATE...August 01, 2008***** I just spoke with my neighbor Mark...Wednesday night they were able to take Betty off the ventilator...since the removal things have been on a slight upswing...Praise the Lord! Betty, has had to have a feeding tube inserted due to overall weakness and a lack of control swallowing due to the ventilator. She has been "whispering" to Mark on and off...and has been more alert the last 24 hours. In fact this morning she told Mark she was "Hungry!"...he said, "she is too weak to eat on her own...but with each passing day she seems to be making slight improvements". It was determined that Betty had another stroke which caused the seizures....from what I gather from Mark, it was not in a compromising area of the brain (but a stroke is never a good thing, but this one isn't the same as her last one)...they are still in ICU...trying to help her stabilize, breath more purely on her own (they have been using the C-Pat? on her occasionally when she becomes too taxed. They are trying all measures to keep from having to put her back on the ventilator. Sometimes, she has trouble breathing which in turn makes her heart rate and resp. rate go way up, so they are trying everything to keep that from continuing. So...praying all things keep heading in the right direction...hopefully, they will be able to move her to a room in the next few days or in about a week...then they will just work really hard to get her "healthy" and "stable" so they can bring her home...where she is terribly missed!

Thank you all for your prayers, comments and concerns....I will update you if I can from my vacation location...if I find out anything new...if I can find an internet hookup in the rain forest!






I love this picture...I post it because my neighbors Betty and Mark need prayers to lift them up over the next coming weeks. I won't go into great details b/c it would take forever, suffice it to say...Betty who is in her mid 50's suffered a stroke a couple of years ago...with some complications as a result of that over the past couple of years. Weekend before last...Betty was in Phoenix w/her husband for a short one night visit to see Mark's brother who has been in a coma for a couple of months (he suffered a massive stroke of the brain stem a couple of months ago...and he is Mark's twin brother)...while there Betty suffered several seizures. She is in a type of coma...with ventilator, pneumonia, kidney malfunctions and other issues, the doctors do not know what lies ahead...as they just take it one day at a time. Please pray that Betty completely recovers from this and that they will soon be home in Texas to rejoin the rest of their family and their precious grandchildren. What they thought was going to be a very brief visit; sadly, has become a very frightening ordeal and lends itself to many, many unknowns. They were planning on a cruise to Alaska in the middle of August, the first really "big" vacation since Betty's stroke...I do so hope and pray that they can postpone this trip only briefly and that they will soon be able to see that dream come to fruition. It just breaks my heart for them...and it does remind me..."to live each day...fully and...to honor HIM every step of the way"!

Thanks to all my prayer buddies and those of you that offer up "well wishes" to my friends.

Thank you....sigh...sigh...sigh!!

Thank the LORD!!! Folks...it is raining here...right this very minute!!! I know it seems as though I am a tad "crazy" and hey! some say I am...but I just had to give a "shout out" and thank the Lord we are getting some much needed rain here in my neck of the woods!

We have had quite a shortage of the wet stuff for a while now...I'm not sure if we are having drought conditions...especially compared to a couple of summers ago. BUT, I do know this...my grass has been "wheezing" from lack of rain for the past few weeks. I've literally had to water every other day...sometimes hand water once a day. With a water ban that only allows you to water from 6:00 p.m to 10:00 a.m. and with all the "experts" saying it's not always good to water late at night, especially with our heat and humidity...it seems it MAY cause fungus to grow in your grass. So, I have to really stay on top of things to get my landscaped acre of land all done in the time allotted...forget about the other acre that is just a dry field right not!! Now, I'm not complaining...because I know some areas are REALLY suffering from lack of rain...and some areas are getting too much! I just wanted to let the world know (all 3 or 4 of you that actually read my blog)...I'm thrilled that it is raining...that the temperature has dropped literally from 97 to 73 in about an hours time...AND that it is raining later in the day...so the heat and humidity won't ruin my hair until tomorrow afternoon (yes, I always have my priorities straight...lol)...WHEW...good to know!!!And my grass is happy...my plants are literally sighing in relief...and I'm just pleased as punch that it has lasted for more than an hour!

I suppose some of you consider it a slow blog day around here...but hey...anytime it rains...I'm thrilled...it is one of my fave things...especially when I'm snuggled up in the safety of my home...book or magazine in hand...and a tall cool drink nearby...so I just wanted to share!



So thank you God, thank you to whatever cool front or weather related blessing that brought you to us...so, rain...lets try not to be so "shy" about coming around more often...ok???

We had such high hopes...

Update....7-12-08...Miss Maggie is home and other than the shaved belly and small scare you would never know she has had surgery...She seems to be adjusting well and is VERY happy to be home...as we are to have her here!



Remember this beauty??? She is the persnickety one that we have tried on numerous occasions to "hook" up with a very nice "gentledog" we have known for a long while... but to no avail. Our beauty just does not want to be with him...so after 4 or so attempts and one attempt with another male who we thought she might want to hook up with...he was a little less of a "gentledog" and a bit more of a rowdy dog...so we thought...MAYBE?? she likes the bad boys!! Well...she didn't like him AT ALL! So, hubbin and I had to make the very tough decision that b/c Miss Maggie will be 5 at the end of August we needed to really consider her future!!























Sadly, today is the day that our Miss M. will no longer be able to have puppies. I took her to our vets this morning around 8:15 a.m. to have them "tie her tubes"....well, actually they call it spaying...but hey...whatever it's called she will no longer be able to birth babies...and I have to say...I'm very, very sad about it! I think she is so beautiful, smart and loving, so much so that we would REALLY like to have one of her babies to raise with her...it seems rather tragic to me that one that is so beautiful, kind and smart could not get to where they needed mentally to have babies...I mean really....it kind of makes me think of Brad and Angelina...I mean what would the world be like if those two had not decided to reproduce??? Goodness gracious they are such beautiful people...and I THINK they're smart, too...but lucky for the world they have been doing well in that department...I suppose they have no phobias when it comes to breeding...ok...sorry about that...I digress!! I feel my Maggie falls into the beautiful dog category...but hey...what's an owner to do??? It just wasn't meant to be I suppose....I even spoke to the vet before actually signing off on the surgery this morning...b/c I wanted reassurance that we were doing the right thing. They know how badly we wanted her to have pups...how badly we wanted to have one of her pups to raise along side her...but...sadly, it's not meant to be. Silly, me...told hubbin (who is just as disappointed and saddened about this as I am) that IF for some reason he changed his mind...to let me know BEFORE 8:15 a.m. (he's out of town and that would be the time I would be signing her over to the vet!)...Well, my heart literally leaped for joy when the phone rang at 8:03...I was thinking...and clapping my hands..."oh yippee...HE has changed his mind...so now we can try with her one more time!"....It wasn't hubbin...it was my son...who I am ALWAYS thrilled to talk to...but this morning...I was really hoping his call home was a call from his dad! Oh well!! We will just have to adopt again one day!


Here she is with the little "crazy" one...looks like Miss Cookie is taunting her by telling her she knows a secret...you see we had the crazy one fixed by her 6th month...so she knows all about what's going on...well, maybe not...she isn't so smart...and we really figured it was best to fix her ASAP!! She is loved, though...even when she does some incredibly "not so endearing" things...more about that later...really...she just is not bright...at all! Breeding her would remind me of...oh! I don't know...maybe Britney and K-Fed...I don't mean anything is wrong with the children...it's just they and our little crazy one do NOT have any business reproducing...in my humble opinion!!...ok...I'm really sorry about that one...things like that just "pop" into my head sometimes!!!

We're praying things go well for our Miss Maggie...we are suppose to be able to pick her up sometime tomorrow...but you can betcha I'll be calling to check on her this afternoon! Funny, how sometimes you think you want a break from taking care of them...only to know when they are gone for a just a little while...you begin to miss them terribly!

He thinks HIS tractor is SEXY....

My HUSBAND...he's such a stinker AND of course an incredible guy! Last weekend he borrowed our good friends tractor (so actually hubbin doesn't have a sexy tractor...but he borrows one). He used it to mow the field at our current home, a field that has been neglected for a few months now...YIKES...Anyhoo...when I went outside to check on him and see if he was doing well or if he needed any Gatorade(you know playing the role of dutiful wife...while hubbin is slaving in the HOT sun)!
AND...this is what I found.... Yea! That's my lovin' hubbin'...up to no good! See that grin on his face...smirky little devil...he thought he wouldn't get caught...b/c he was doing such a great deed and all and was a few yards away from the main house...he figured I would just ignore the fact that he had that NASTY cigar in his mouth. He didn't count on me taking pictures...and NOW posting about it...boy he's in big trouble if his mom sees this!!

Men!!...boys!!...and all their toys along with their mischievous behavior!! Well, at least the field looks great...he's such a sneak...and I love the heck out of him...cigar and all!! I let the cigars slide when they are outdoors (yea, like I have a say in THAT!)...but no-one smokes in my home and it's always been that way..but seriously we don't know very many smokers...isn't that strange?? In our new home...he has designed a porch off his study/trophy room that he can gather with the other cigar villains and sneak a smoke. Wonder what he would do if I did the same???
I'll cut him some slack here...he does this very rarely...and he does enjoy a good cigar with a good glass of wine...on occasion....and I'm ok with it (thank goodness he wasn't having that glass of wine while driving the tractor...OR maybe he was just hiding it!!LOL)...as long as he stays healthy and wears his sunscreen!! I think he does look pretty sexy on that tractor....cigar and all!! That STINKER!!

In this last picture...he almost looks like he is baiting me...blowing smoke and daring me to come out to the field and take his cigar away! Uh huh...that won't happen either...a.)I'm not that controlling b.) he had already smoked most of it and c.) I don't get near big tractors while they are mowing and slinging all sorts of things about (my dad taught me that)...and sweet hubbin' knows that...again, what a mischievous stinker!! GOTTA LOVE HIM and I do!

Exciting NEWS!!

Ok...having blogger issues...I'll try this again!! Sorry Sandi...NO...no grandbabies!!


My sweet daughter just called....all excited...saying..."Quick! Mom...go to the ETSY home page...I made the home page cover!!" Apparently, they feature an artist at different times throughout the day AND that artists features her favorite artists that list on etsy. Today, my daughter was featured and the artists entitled her favorites Urban Impact. Needless, to say...sweet daughter was pumped (as well as her mom)!!! I get so excited for my children when things are going well for them and they get to work at what they love!! She truly does love this medium and soon she will be teaching art on a part time basis...she is excited about that, too...plus it allows her to have time to keep her photography business up and running!

OOOOPPPPSSS she just called and said..."AHHH! its gone!"....So keep checking back...maybe it will be back later today!! I think they rotate them throughout the day...but hey 15 minutes of fame ain't too bad.

This is the picture that was featured...it is from her Alpha-Series.


If you would like to see more of her work you can visit her at her etsy store
jacquelynlee.etsy.com
OR her photography site at www.jacquelynlee.com
She is adding more stuff all the time...soon she is going to be adding postcards and such! Can't wait! She's also offering smaller sizes in the alpha series now...so you can order more for less!

Thanks for letting me "brag" a little...cos you know...that's what moms like to do when they know their children are good at something...and are HAPPY and LOVE what they are doing!! You can view the home page here....
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=53463